


Reconcilliaton

by thequidditchpitch_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Action/Adventure, Drama, Friendship, Post-Hogwarts, The Quidditch Pitch: Leaving Feast
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-02-28
Updated: 2007-02-28
Packaged: 2018-10-27 12:08:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10808715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thequidditchpitch_archivist/pseuds/thequidditchpitch_archivist
Summary: Professor Harry Potter, DADA teacher and head of Gryffindor house has family matters to deal with.  Can he cope with a ghost from the past?





	Reconcilliaton

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Annie, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [The Quidditch Pitch](http://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Quidditch_Pitch), which went offline in 2015 when the hosting expired, at a time I was not able to renew it. I contacted Open Doors, hoping to preserve the archive using an old backup, and began importing these works as an Open Doors-approved project in April 2017. Open Doors e-mailed all authors about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact us using the e-mail address on [The Quidditch Pitch collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/thequidditchpitch/profile).

  
Author's notes:

This idea came about after I went to a High School reunion a couple of years back, it was the 23rd anniversary of our graduation.  A guy who used to give me something of a hard time back then came up to me and apologised for it, telling me that he had kids now and was distressed to see one of them on the receiving end of the kind of treatment he used to dish out.  People grow and change and I thought it would be interesting to see this sort of thing happening to Harry.

* * *

There was a knock at the door; looking up from his desk, Professor Harry Potter, Hogwarts DADA teacher and head of Gryffindor house, paused for a moment before getting up.

"Just a moment," he said, and then walking across the room he opened the door, revealing a stern looking older woman.  "Headmistress McGonagall, good to see you."

"Thank you, Harry," she said as she entered the office. "I bought the letter as you asked but are you sure about this? After all, you know the father's history and we do have people that specialize in these sorts of contacts."

"Yes, I'm sure, Minerva," said Harry with a grim expression, "regardless of what he's like they are family and that's why I want to do this. Anyway you know as well as I do now that the girl is coming here, he'll need to know the whole story."

***

"‘Ere we are sir, number fourteen," said the taxi driver as they pulled up out the front of a rather average looking house in outer London.

"Thank you," said Harry, "see you later."

With that he walked up to the small picket fence at the front of the little bungalow, catching his breath he opened the gate and strode up to the front door and rang the bell.  A short while later the door was opened, a thin horse-faced woman blanched when she recognized Harry, composing herself quickly, she said, "Please, come in."

"Aunt Petunia," said Harry, surprised to find her here, "I ... I actually came by to speak to Dudley, I can come back later if this isn't a good time." _As if it would ever be a good time._ He added in his mind.

"No, not at all, I actually live here now, I've been keeping house for Dudders and little Rosie ever since ... since the accident," she said quietly.  "It's easier that way."

"I'm sorry," said Harry, and he meant it.  He knew that Vernon Dursley had died some years earlier and despite the horrendous treatment he'd received from them when he was a boy, he knew now that Vernon and Petunia had in fact loved each other deeply.  In the years following Voldemort's demise, Harry had come to terms with his mother's sister, if not her husband, and he was much more inclined to feel sympathetic toward the poor woman than he might once have been.

"Anyway," he said breaking out of his reverie, "is Dudley around? It's him I really need to speak to."

"He's down at the shop with Rose at the moment," she replied, "they should be back in about twenty minutes or so."  Petunia hesitated for a moment looking fearfully at Harry before she finally blurted out, "It's her, isn't it?  That's why you're here, she's a ... a ..."

"She's a witch, Aunt Petunia, you don't seem surprised."  He said coolly. "And yes, I'm here to extend an invitation for her to study at my school, I'm a teacher there now."

"I know," she said, once again in a low voice.  "Strange things happen around her, like used to happen when you were a boy, I've done my best to cover them up, you know, keep them hidden from Dudley.  I didn't know how he'd react if he figured it out, he's a lot like his father, you know.  I didn't want her to have to go through what ... what you did because of him."

In a way Harry was relieved, yet he was also worried.  It would be fair to say that the way his Aunt and Uncle treated him, while a miserable way to grow up, gave him strength and a certain toughness that in the end helped him overcome the challenges he had to face.

***

They sat together in an uncomfortable silence waiting for Dudley and Rose; eventually there was the sound of a car in the driveway, looking out the window Harry was unsurprised to see a large black sedan pull up.  _Like father like son,_ thought Harry as the big car disappeared into the garage.  When they came into the lounge room Harry was stunned, instead of the sumo wrestler type figure he was expecting, Dudley was solidly built but not fat as he had been. Seeing Harry sitting with Petunia he stopped in his tracks, the girl sensing there was a stranger in the house went quiet and stayed behind him.

"Rosie," said Dudley in a kind voice that Harry had never thought to associate with his cousin, "this is your Uncle Harry."

"Hi," she said shyly.

"Hello there," replied Harry in what he hoped was a reassuring voice.

"Rosie dear," said Petunia, "why don't you go play in the yard for a while, I'm sure your daddy and Uncle Harry have a lot to talk about."

Nodding, the little girl made a beeline to the back of the house, clearly uncomfortable with the company; Petunia went with her, leaving the cousins alone.

"Harry."

"Dudley."

"Before you say anything, Harry, I just want to say ... I'm sorry."

"Huh?" was all Harry could say to this, as his mind went blank.

"What I meant to say was that I was a right royal git to you when we were kids and now, being a dad, has made me really regret that, especially with what you did for all of us, both my kind and yours."

"Err, Dudley, I'm not real sure what you mean here."

"That Volderwhatsisname guy, Millie told me all about him."

"Millie?" said Harry, more confused than ever.

"Millie, my wife, Rosie's mother, she was one of your lot"  said Dudley, though not in the derisive way he used to say _"your lot"_ in fact, he sounded almost proud to say it.  "And I suppose you're here to tell me that Rosie is too."

"Well, yeah," said Harry, stunned; this conversation wasn't going the least bit like he'd imagined it would.

"Yeah, Millie was something else, let me tell you, I thought I'd never be able to go on when she died but then there was Rosie..." Dudley's voice trailed off and Harry, for the first time in his life felt a pang of sympathy for his once-loathed cousin, he remembered that frightening time during the war when he thought he'd lost Ginny, remembered that black hole of despair, thankfully she'd survived that episode.

"Well," he said again breaking out of his thoughts as he handed the yellow envelope to Dudley, "this is a list of school supplies and books, all of which can be found in Diagon Alley, I'd be happy to take you there if you like."

Nodding, Dudley stood up and walked to the back door.  

"Rosie," he called, "can you come in here, sweetie, your Uncle Harry has some exciting news for you..."


End file.
